EU citizenship - problems, potential, policy

Location

Citizenship of the European Union, as introduced in the 1992 Treaty of Maastricht, has often been considered a purely symbolic gesture. However, since the late 1990s, increasingly assertive rulings by the European Court of Justice have transformed the legal standing of Union citizenship. While still secondary to nationality, it now represents an independent source of rights, which enshrines freedom of movement and residence, and supplements it with significant social rights, even where the EU citizen is not economically active. Consequently, the distinction between EU citizens, national citizens, and to a degree third country nationals, are increasingly blurred. This panel discussion brings together experts to discuss, with concrete reference to legal and policy issues where these tensions have become particularly manifest.